


all children, except one, grow up

by MycroftRH



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batman Needs a Robin, Blanket Permission, Child Neglect, Gen, Podfic Welcome, Protective Tim Drake, Suicidal Ideation, Tim Drake is Not Okay, Tim Drake was never Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MycroftRH/pseuds/MycroftRH
Summary: Batman needs a Robin, and Timothy Drake, an empty boy in an empty house, will do whatever it takes to make sure Batman never loses his Robin.  It's okay.  Tim knows he won't be missed.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 114
Collections: Works good enough I will definitely reread





	all children, except one, grow up

**Author's Note:**

> Please, heed warnings for Major Character Death, suicidal ideation, and (canon-typical) child abuse/neglect. Also some blood.

Jason doesn’t die. He doesn’t die, but he nearly does; no Robin flies for months and Batman tears the city apart. Tim watches, and almost intervenes. But Jason will be back. Jason will be back, and they don’t need Tim.

Jason comes back and Batman is better and Tim is alone, a silent ghost haunting an empty house, as he always has been, and he always will be. His parents leave for adventures across the world and Batman and Robin have adventures in Gotham and with the Justice League and in space, and Tim looks at the postcards his parents send him every so often, and the pictures he has taken of his heroes, and the pictures in the papers, and he wonders what it would be like to have an adventure.

Tim follows Batman and Robin because it’s almost like having a family and it’s almost like having an adventure and because he has to take care of them, he has to watch out for Robin because if Robin actually dies Batman will fall apart. Batman needs his Robin, and Tim will do whatever it takes.

It’s not Joker, it’s not even Scarecrow or Riddler or Poison Ivy or Two-Face. It’s not a story that anyone will bother to remember. It's just a lucky shot, a nameless minion who snuck around behind, who was just quiet enough to not be noticed until his gun flashed in the dark.

Batman needs a Robin, and Tim will make sure he has one, and Tim is the only one who is watching, and he does what he has to.

He's read a lot about common fatal injuries and about blood spatter. Femoral artery, he thinks, and takes a moment to be a little disappointed that he can't see the arterial spray in the darkness. He's never seen that sort of forensic evidence in person, just in photographs.

Batman and Robin bend over him, and there’s something strange on their faces; concern, maybe. Tim smiles to reassure them. Batman needs a Robin, and he’s saved Robin, and everything will be okay. They don't need to be upset.

To die will be an awfully big adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> Both the title and the final line are from J M Barrie's Peter Pan.


End file.
